Painting: ‘Outback’
This painting marks my first foray into this art form and the symbolism contained in Aboriginal art. Although I have no birth right to Aboriginal culture or art, I do have a deep love and respect for it. In 1996 I traveled all the way around Australia in a VW Kombi van, stopping in wonderful cultural hubs around this big Island, such as Alice Springs, Uluru and Devils Marbles, Arnhem land, Darwin, Katherine and pretty much every town around Australia and some inland which were real eye openers. I visited the local galleries in most of these places and went off into Caves and National Parks to see more, as I slowly began to appreciate the stories in these paintings and loved that you could convey meaning in this way. I wanted to try creating a story to represent our time in Australia and painted this canvas in 1997, soon after getting back from our year down under. I didn’t paint another one for a while, but when I did, I put my heart and soul into creating HARMONY and presented it to First City Advertising to help them always stay true to their mission.
I have never really loved this painting, but my nearest and dearest think it is worth noting, so I have included it here.